Raw at SAP Center Recap

The Road To WrestleMania Makes A Stop In San Jose

Monday Night Raw returned to the SAP Center in San Jose, so it was only fitting for the Forgotten Sports staff and friends (Michael and Ray) to head down and watch the show recapping the fallout from Elimination Chamber on Saturday. A pre-show tradition of grabbing a bite to eat and a beverage at Whole Foods Market was on the list. Heading to the arena down the street was a cacophony of wrestling superstar impressions and predictions for the night ahead. 

The energy at the SAP Center was electric, with a packed house of 13,491 fans. Just a few months prior, only 9,500 fans had attended the October 2nd Raw, but the increase in attendance was a clear indication of the growing momentum of the wrestling business. The buzz around the upcoming WrestleMania XL in Philadelphia was palpable, and we were thrilled to be part of the action.

We got inside and settled in our seats. Two matches for the main event were being taped. Ivy Nile defeated Xia Li in the first match, and an entertaining contest between Ivar and Apollo Crews saw Ivar score the victory.

At the start of Raw's broadcast, a recap of Saturday morning's action in Perth, Australia, at Elimination Chamber was shown. As the broadcast cut to the arena, the audience showered Dominik Mysterio with boos when he attempted to introduce the victorious "Mami" Rhea Ripley, who had successfully defended her title in her home country on Saturday. The crowd's response to Dom was so intense that he couldn't speak without inciting them. 

Becky Lynch, the winner of the Women’s Elimination Chamber match and #1 contender for Ripley’s title, made her entrance to the building and entered the ring to congratulate Ripley and let her know that she is gunning for her at WrestleMania. Dominik tells her she can’t talk to his Mami like that, and she tells him to shut his mouth and calls him a dirty kumquat. If Rhea won’t put him in his place, she will.

After winning the Elimination Chamber, Ripley congratulated Becky Lynch, but also warned her not to disrespect Dom again. Ripley also stated that it was about time that Lynch won something instead of just talking trash. Lynch claimed to be the backbone of the division, but Ripley reminded her that behind every great man is a greater woman. However, Ripley didn't consider herself to be behind Lynch because she was always on top. Suddenly, Nia Jax appeared and attacked Lynch. Nia dragged Lynch to the corner and attempted to perform a Banzai Drop, but General Manager Adam Pearce intervened with a group of referees and road agents, forcing Nia to back down.

Coming up after a commercial break, a great match between Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura had the crowd entertained from start to finish as Sami Zayn picked up a momentum-building victory on the road to WrestleMania. Two great performers putting on an entertaining match that had memories from NXT Takeover: Dallas flash in my head. Sami enters the backstage area to be interviewed by Jackie Redmond and encounters Imperium. As they pass by him, Gunther, the WWE Intercontinental Champion, stops and stares him down before walking away. Zayn sees Gunther leaving, looks at Redmond, and smiles.

Gunther, accompanied by Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser, enters the arena and talks about his record reign as the I-C champ. He mentions the potential opponents for his defense at WrestleMania XL, including names like Sami Zayn, Chad Gable, The Miz, and R-Truth. 

The Judgment Day entered featuring Damian Priest, Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, and Dominik Mysterio. They express their interest in adding the I-C title to their collection, and a pull-apart ensues when Dom steps forward to Gunther, inciting the crowd once again. 

The next match featured a street fight between Imperium and the New Day and got going on the entrance ramp. The four men brawled all over the place with all the various weapons and had the crowd energized. Imperium picked up the victory and continued to look strong in the tag team division. A quick women’s tag match-up between Zoey Stark & Shayna Baszler vs. Indi Hartwell & Candice LeRae saw Baszler get the victory for her team by getting Hartwell to tap. 

One of the best segments was an entertaining promo with Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins discussing WrestleMania XL. McIntyre’s continued mocking of CM Punk and his injury status has been a nice added touch in the feud as well as sitting in the middle of the ring and giving a promo like Punk would. But the main focus is Drew vs. Seth for the World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins comes out with the energy of the crowd behind him. 

Photo by Cody Elias

During the conversation, the two wrestlers discussed their upcoming match against each other. McIntyre expressed his concerns to Rollins about his existing injuries, including an injured knee and back. On top of that, he was worried about dealing with The Bloodline's issues during their match. McIntyre believed that if The Bloodline interfered, it would ruin his victory at WrestleMania. Rollins acknowledged McIntyre's concerns but argued that it was worth taking the risk to deal with The Bloodline now. He believed that The Bloodline would eventually come after the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, whether he or McIntyre had it. In the end, they wished each other luck in the upcoming match.

The next match is Nia Jax against Liv Morgan, in which Becky Lynch interfered to exact some revenge on Nia Jax for the attack earlier in the show and ended in a no-contest. 

The crowd acknowledged the passing of Ole Anderson before the main event of the evening between Grayson Waller and Cody Rhodes.

Video by Alex Scott

The crowd, as always, became unglued as soon as the lights went down for Cody’s entrance and Kingdom blared through the SAP Center. An entertaining match saw Cody pick up the victory with the Cody Cutter and Cross-Rhodes.

As Cody Rhodes celebrates his victory, Paul Heyman appears with three security guards. Heyman warned Cody to stop mentioning The Rock's name or face the consequences. However, Cody refuses to back down and warns Heyman to bring on any Bloodline setup. When the officers start to enter the ring, Cody stops them and boldly declares that he's not afraid to fight back. As Heyman makes phone calls to Roman Reigns and The Rock, Cody reiterates that he's hunting The Bloodline and will not back down. He stands tall, ready to face whatever comes his way. 

After Raw was off the air, Cody continued to entertain the SAP Center crowd and even announced a gender reveal for one of the fans in the audience! All in all, a great time out at SAP Center to watch some wrestling and continue on the road to WrestleMania XL in 39 days. 

Bonus: It wouldn’t be a wrestling show without some merchandise! The Forgotten Sports founder Cody Elias picked up his wife a Rhea Ripley Mami Is Always On Top T-Shirt.

Photo by Cody Elias